Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined circa 1640, from dis- +‎ believe.

Examples

I am outraged, shocked, in disbelieve that the US will sit by and allow the Gov't of Iran to disgrace and dishonor their citizens by demanding a $3,000 payment for the bullet that killed a relative before the Gov't will turn over the body to the family.

For you therefore which believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner; and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

I see an error in my comment above, namely 72% philosophy faculty "lean towards" atheism while 72% of NAS members "disbelieve", and 14% of philosophy faculty "lean towards" theism while 7% of NAS members "believe".

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Comments

Recently, I have been seeing this word used to mean "to not be of the opinion": "I disbelieve that the Obama stimulus package will succeed." This usage seems strange to me and, as I said, fairly recent. Normally, I would say, "I do not believe" or "I disagree that". I am used to the sense, "doubt the veracity" of someone or something: "She disbelieved his protestations of love." But even that sounds strange to my ear (compared with "She did not believe ..."). To use "disbelieve" with a "that" subordinate clause seems really unusual to me. Have I been too long outside English-speaking lands?